tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-101527862011-04-21T15:01:50.001-03:00News and snippets about VoIP (internet telephones) and in particular how it applies to BermudaRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comBlogger651100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1152898257792609312006-07-14T14:27:00.000-03:002006-07-14T16:01:47.613-03:00

The latest issue of Computing Which? magazine pits six free VoIP services against each other for ease of use, effectiveness and range of features. Skype took pole position for its “fuss-free approach, easy set-up and exceptional voice clarity”, in second place was Yahoo! Messenger. Poor old Google Talk was deemed “less helpful”.“Using your PC as a phone can be so cheap, often even free, that

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1147804576316140202006-05-16T15:27:00.000-03:002006-05-16T16:04:24.956-03:00

Yesterday, Skype announced that if you’re in the US or Canada, you can use SkypeOut to call any landline or mobile number in both the USA and Canada for free.If you’re in the US or Canada and calling any other country, OR if you’re in any other country and calling landline or mobile numbers in the US or Canada, the standard SkypeOut rates apply.Of course, Skype-to-Skype calls continue to be

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1147803982527623312006-05-16T15:22:00.000-03:002006-05-16T15:26:23.746-03:00

This was from the Skype Developer Zone blog last week. It could be very helpful for small companies that do not have an army of people waiting to answer the phone. Call me if you need any more information about how to do this.There’s an easy way to set up a helpdesk, weather forecast service, horoscopes-on-demand or similar service using nothing but Skype (and a few smart people to answer the

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1146679328023378032006-05-03T14:56:00.000-03:002006-05-03T15:02:08.036-03:00

Skype have released their latest beta version today. You can download it hereIt has a few extra bells and whistles; you can read all about them on Skype's pageRemember that this is a beta version and may have a few problems so should only be downloaded if you know what you are doing!

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1146146546929113222006-04-27T10:55:00.000-03:002006-04-27T11:02:26.946-03:00

It seems as if I only record new record numbers for Skype whenever I post to BuzzBlog.At about 10.30 am today (Bermuda time), Skype passed the 100,000,000 mark for registered user names. Of course, this does not mean that there are that many users as many people have registered multiple names or are no longer using the service.However, it is a pretty big number.We now have a list on our website

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1143558088787551492006-03-28T10:52:00.000-04:002006-03-28T11:01:28.810-04:00

It is only 2 months since Skype passed the 5 million users online mark. Yesterday they passed 6 million.This morning, the number of users online looked like thisThe number of downloads is at 277,506,545. Of course, many of these are multiple downloads and people upgrading to the latest version of Skype.Do you have the latest version? For Windows it is 2.0.0.97 released in mid March.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1142973786635069082006-03-21T16:34:00.000-04:002006-03-28T12:35:59.806-04:00

There is a great story here about using your Skype connection and a video camera as a dog watching device for when you are away from home.A video web cam is focused on the dog's bed so that you can call into it (the camera not the dog) using Skype 2.0It uses a regular webcam (Logitech QuickCam) which is plugged it into a spare laptop (you can use any computer that is always online). Download

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1138116434860231342006-01-24T11:21:00.000-04:002006-01-24T11:27:14.873-04:00

As a follow up to my story yesterday about Skype having over 5 million users online at the same time, there is a post on Share Skype which shows how many people 5 million are.5 million people are:more than 3 times the number of people in Estoniaabout 13 times the people living in Tallinn where we are building Skypeabout a third of greater London areaa quarter of New York metropolitan area1/260th

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1138039494065130962006-01-23T13:09:00.000-04:002006-01-23T14:04:54.100-04:00

I would like to thank Jan in Malaysia for introducing me to the SKMap from Japan. You can send your longitude/latitude position and an icon will appear on the world map showing your current online status. The map is from Google Earth.Bermudabuzz was the seventh site to appear on the map and only the second in the Americas! It needs a few more visitors to help to populate the Skype world. You can

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1138035932661860082006-01-23T13:01:00.000-04:002006-01-23T13:05:32.683-04:00

I can't believe that it is over 3 months since I last posted on the BuzzBlog. Lots of things have happened but nothing to be recounted here.Skype has just reached over 5 million simultaneous users. Here is a look at the number at 1.00pm Bermuda time today.There is also a new version of Skype which was released last week, version 2.0.0.73.It is a bigger file than earlier versions but has more

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1129647425779242752005-10-18T11:52:00.000-03:002006-01-18T15:11:52.236-04:00

"A Trojan passing itself off as the Skype voice-over-Internet (VoIP) client is making the rounds, security firm MessageLabs warned Monday. The IRCbot variant is spammed via e-mail, with the attached file payload disguised as the newest release of Skype, version 1.4, said MessageLabs. Skype Technologies released the 1.4 client at the end of September." For the full story go to Information Week

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1127410684886236922005-09-22T14:05:00.000-03:002005-09-22T14:38:04.893-03:00

Having played around with the Google Earth programme since I first mentioned it in an earlier blog, I have now integrated it into my contact page. If you have GoogleEarth installed on your computer, you can get a fly through to the location of my office. This only shows one frame from the full experience!There is another example on the Southdown Farm website.You must have GoogleEarth running when

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1127408686306925332005-09-22T14:02:00.000-03:002005-09-22T14:04:46.313-03:00

We all know that when you take a vacation there is alway more work to do before and afterwards than you would have done in the period of the vacation.It also seems that whenever I take a vacation (which is rarely) something happens of great interest in my business.It has happened again with the purchase of Skype by eBay.It is now too late to comment on this, although the rumour was circulating

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1125429198339363442005-08-30T16:10:00.000-03:002005-08-30T16:29:27.983-03:00

...well almost free.After the fire at Belco, we were all asked to conserve electricity as much as possible.Perhaps we should follow the example of this 16 year old from Somerset (England not Bermuda) and be a friend to the environment and to Belco. He is saving money on recharging his cell phone batteries.Full story and picture.The basic ingredients of this alternative power source seems to be

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1124903883230149222005-08-24T14:09:00.000-03:002005-08-24T14:18:03.236-03:00

As I mentioned yesterday, Google have launched their new GoogleTalk product today. I have not yet had a chance to try it out but there is a good review of it at Skype Journal.You have to have a Gmail account to sign up.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1124824053645348472005-08-23T16:04:00.000-03:002005-08-23T16:24:39.343-03:00

Times Online in the UK has said today that Google is set to introduce an instant voice and text messaging system this week, according to reports. The venture would mark the first time the internet search and advertising giant has moved into communications. The Los Angeles Times said the new service would be called Google Talk and could be launched as soon as tomorrow. Google Talk would allow

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1124373013751420642005-08-18T10:41:00.000-03:002005-08-18T10:50:13.756-03:00

Skype announced yesterday that they have now passed the 150 million downloads mark and the 50 million registered users mark.However, it would appear that the number of users online at any time is still hovering around the 3 million mark.Perhaps when the summer holidays are over, the number will increase dramatically.Have you got your Skype handset yet for when the kids are back in school or

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1124205827671748392005-08-16T12:17:00.000-03:002005-08-16T12:23:47.676-03:00

A couple of acronyms for the heading for this post.KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid. This was advice that Vodafone followed when they found that a lot of people over 35 did not use cell phones because they have too many bells and whistles. So they developed the Vodafone Simply and that is exactly what it is. There is an interesting article by Wall Street Journal writer, David Pringle, which explains

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1122402336232611732005-07-26T15:17:00.000-03:002005-07-26T15:25:38.966-03:00

There has always been a problem calling toll free numbers in the US (and other places) from Bermuda. No more.Skype have just (an hour ago) made a change to SkypeOut that allows you to call toll-free numbers in several countries free of charge, even if you don’t have SkypeOut and don’t ever plan to buy it. (If you DO have SkypeOut, those calls are priced at zero price.) Note that this is currently

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1122392037412067122005-07-26T12:31:00.000-03:002005-07-26T12:43:42.483-03:00

In the latest edition of Bermudian Business, Chris Gibbons is good enough to mention our Buzz.bm website and in the article he also mentions the story that we picked up about using Skype at 36,000 ft.You can now hear a recording (SkypeCast) of Joi Ito talking to Jeremy Wagstaff from Lufthansa Flight 711 from Tokyo to Frankfurt. This will give you a good idea of the quality of a Skype call.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1121975634497493512005-07-21T16:34:00.000-03:002005-07-21T16:53:54.503-03:00

This has nothing to do with Skype or VoIP but is very cool.Google has just introduced Google Earth in beta and you can fly around the world from one great tourist site to another. But the best thing is that you can put in your own choice of locations and fly from one to another. Bermuda is not listed as one of the world's great tourism locations, but I am sure Dr Brown could have it added for a

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1121711299338095912005-07-18T15:13:00.000-03:002005-07-18T15:35:26.243-03:00

For those of you who read the great blog from Phil called A Limey in Bermuda, you will know that he has an interesting piece at the bottom of his sidebar with a listing of some upcoming events in Bermuda. We have now added the same to this blog. It is powered by a site called Upcoming.com and the updated feed is supplied by BigBold.com.If you want to add any events to the site, you can do so here.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1121711823585455732005-07-18T09:30:00.000-03:002005-07-18T15:37:03.586-03:00

Now that the worst of "The Blackout" is hopefully over, we can get back to a near normal existence. But thanks of course must go to all the members of the Bermuda Fire Service for their valiant work and to the Belco workers who have helped us to get our power back in a balanced way. To those members of our community who seem to think that reductions in their power usage do not apply to them,

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1121263526660900632005-07-13T11:00:00.000-03:002005-07-13T11:05:26.660-03:00

A lot of Skype news today! Version 1.3.0.57 of Skype has been released. Contains a few minor changes.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1121263194645090302005-07-13T10:57:00.000-03:002005-07-13T10:59:54.646-03:00

Skype Zones BETA is a little piece of software powered by Boingo that gives you access to Skype through thousands of Skype-friendly hot spots, while you’re on the move. So now when you’re at your favourite café or waiting quietly at the airport, you don’t have to count the tick-tock of your watch, instead you can just talk to your friends on Skype.Right now, the service is being tested, so you

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1121263025964471272005-07-13T10:52:00.000-03:002005-07-13T11:12:00.696-03:00

Here is a screen shot that shows the information you can pick up from web pages you are visiting. Notice how it also puts a little phone icon next to numbers on the page so that you can "click and call". Very handy.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1121175465864982042005-07-12T10:31:00.000-03:002006-01-18T21:35:02.726-04:00

Skype is introducing Free SkypeOut Days. These will give you up to 10 minutes of free time on SkypeOut. They are only being offered for 4 days in July and only for a day at a time. When one is approaching, Skype will let you know through their website and on Share.Skype.com. They’re planning to have those days every week in July, so keep checking back for details. And when you spot one, spread

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1120589421143700012005-07-05T15:49:00.000-03:002005-07-05T15:50:21.146-03:00

This morning, Skype added a couple of new tools to their ever growing box of tricks.Both of these are official Skype add ins and are currently in beta stage.You can add a Skype button to your Internet Explorer toolbar or connect to your Outlook contacts (not Outlook Express yet).Get the links for both from this entry in the Skype CommunityUp to the time of writing, only a few hundred people had

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1119632066831058682005-06-24T13:38:00.000-03:002005-06-24T13:54:26.836-03:00

It always seems that mobile phones can't get any smaller and still function. Now there is a movement in the other direction. In the last week I have read of 2 products which reverse the trend and take us back to the solid reliable phones that we grew up with! The first is the Portable Rotary Phone from Sparkfun. The phone comes fully assembled and tested. All you have to do is open the phone,

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1119292108050263062005-06-20T14:50:00.000-03:002005-06-30T15:38:17.390-03:00

We nearly missed out on this one. That's the problem when interesting things happen on a beautiful summer Sunday when I would rather be out on the water.The news is that Skype has now passed the '10 billion minutes served' mark. As pointed out in SkypeJournal, that is 272 lifetimes (as specified in the Christian Bible!) or nearly 167 million episodes of The Young and the Restless.To go back in

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1118850999932441352005-06-15T12:54:00.000-03:002005-06-15T12:56:39.933-03:00

Do NOT use the search box at the top of this page. Despite being a Google owned site, this page has still not been spidered by Google yet. If you want to find something in the blog, use Ctrl-F as the basic find method.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1118849967784094342005-06-15T12:27:00.000-03:002005-06-15T12:39:27.786-03:00

It was announced late yesterday that Yahoo has purchased Dialpad. I know that many Bermuda residents are using DialPad so you might like to check out the details on the Dialpad site.From what we can make out, there should be no immediate change to your DialPad service but we will keep all users informed when we get more information

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1118775264751818402005-06-14T15:49:00.000-03:002005-06-14T15:54:24.756-03:00

Version 1.3 of Skype is now available. It has a few changes from the previous 1.2 and appears to have had bugs eliminated that were found in the beta test. There have also been over 120 million downloads for the software to date and the number of users online regularly hovers around the 3 million mark.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1118772046971786192005-06-14T14:45:00.000-03:002005-06-14T15:00:46.976-03:00

The current edition of Business Week shows the advantages to a small business from using Skype or other VoIP technology. It tells how a company in Palo Alto, Calif. saved 90% on their monthly long distance phone bills. If they could save that much in the land of cheap telephone calls, just think how much could be saved in Bermuda.Get your copy of Business Week from Washington Mall Magazines or

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1118770446818250582005-06-13T14:19:00.000-03:002005-06-14T14:36:39.280-03:00

News of a new book to explain the mysteries of Skype.The book will be published on 1st July and can be ordered now from Amazon. Place your order here to save 34% on the cover price of $34.95 (you will pay $23.07)In the first-ever book on Skype Markus Daehne, who is the forum moderator on the Skype Web site, takes you from the basics of getting Skype up and running on all platforms, through

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1118423693412565082005-06-10T14:05:00.000-03:002005-06-10T14:14:53.420-03:00

Here is a new site that lets you easily edit a photo to use on your Skype profile.Go to imagecrop.com, upload the picture you want to edit, do the necessary and it is all ready for you to use on Skype or any other similar service. It takes only a few minutes to do and they only keep the image on their server for 10 minutes.Thanks to SkypeJournal for this tip.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1117223632936796492005-05-27T16:51:00.000-03:002005-05-27T16:53:52.940-03:00

Many people have been looking for a mobile VoIP phone so that they are not tied to their computer when Skyping. Here is a great place to find out how to build your own phone

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1117204146747350422005-05-27T11:09:00.000-03:002005-05-27T11:29:06.750-03:00

I normally only comment on VoIP related items here but this is about the most absurd use of cell phones yet. Taiwan Mobile has introduced the Virtual Girlfriend or V-girl.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1117201784822268972005-05-27T10:44:00.000-03:002005-05-27T10:49:44.833-03:00

I am always amazed at the way people think up fresh uses for new technologies. Here is an idea that uses Skype as a babysitting device!As I have no children I cannot comment on the workability of the idea, but it seems to be perfectly feasible.This article is from James Enck's excellent EuroTelcoblog

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1116614551387421242005-05-20T15:34:00.000-03:002005-05-20T15:42:31.386-03:00

Skype has set up its own blog today. That will make it harder for us to get Skype news to you first!Check it out anyway.https://share.skype.com/Thanks to SkypeJournal for this piece of news

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1116596896881745652005-05-20T10:30:00.000-03:002005-05-20T10:48:16.893-03:00

The BBC has discovered the joys and benefits of VoIP and is dealing with the subject on the Money Programme at 7.00pm (UK time) tonight.See how a group of Scottish 'senior citizens' tried it and loved it.Picture from BBCDespite being admittedly `non-techy', the Money Programme testers all found that within a week they were hooked on this new way of contacting their friends for free - especially

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1116445948936358712005-05-18T14:02:00.000-03:002005-05-20T15:34:36.756-03:00

There always seems to be some new record being broken by Skype!At 11.30am today (Bermuda time), there were over 3 million people using Skype at the same time.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1115749084745681092005-05-10T14:56:00.000-03:002005-05-10T15:18:04.816-03:00

Just found this great post from Loic Le Meur in his blog. In April,he was on his way from Paris to Seattle on a wifi enabled SAS flight and talked to Skype enabled friends from the plane. As he points out, it cost $29 to get the service but he could use it at anytime during the 10 hour flight. A regular in-flight call costs $9 per minute.This is something for all road warriors to consider on

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1115668107722735922005-05-09T16:45:00.000-03:002005-05-09T16:48:27.726-03:00

The Department of Telecommunications and Ecommerce has 'unsealed' the Buzz web site and we are back in business.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1113835144856004212005-04-18T11:34:00.000-03:002005-04-18T11:39:04.856-03:00

Skype have announced the introduction of Skype Voicemail in their newest version. Subscriptions cost $7 for 3 months or $19 for the year. However, there is a free voice mail system called SAM (Skype Answering Machine) written by Alex Rosenbaum which is well worth checking out.It is very sophisticated and lets you record different messages for different callers. If you like the program, you can

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1113834844868782022005-04-15T16:23:00.000-03:002005-04-18T11:34:04.870-03:00

At about 11a.m. Bermuda time today (April 15), Skype hit the 100 million mark for software downloads. Obviously, many of those people do not go on to use the software other than out of interest for a couple of times. And many people will use it in the office and at home, which makes only 1 user. However, they reckon that over 2 million people are using Skype at any given time.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1113582687189964862005-04-15T13:24:00.000-03:002005-04-15T13:31:27.190-03:00

From Rich Tehrani's VoIP blogIn what may be the biggest news pertaining to the FCC since Kevin Martin was selected to lead the commission, California is giving up its appeal to the Federal Communications Commission rule designating VoIP as an interstate service beyond state control. While VoIP is obviously an interstate service beyond the jurisdiction of a single state, other states are appealing

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1113581117005724222005-04-15T12:53:00.000-03:002005-04-15T13:05:17.006-03:00

I was reading Tom Keating's blog on VoIP and saw this interesting article about the demise of the phone box (or booth for our US readers). A fascinating bit of it referred to a Japanese web site that showed Skype running on a public payphone kiosk.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1113581886099999842005-04-13T10:10:00.000-03:002005-04-15T13:18:06.100-03:00

The National Telecommunications Commission in the Philippines has recently brought out a memorandum for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). It is downloadable from their web site as a PDF document.If you don't have time to read the whole document (it is only 7 pages), here are a couple of interesting extracts:It is the Commission's position......that everyone will benefit if VoIP is widely

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1112722726144495722005-04-05T14:36:00.000-03:002005-04-05T14:47:25.353-03:00

The revolution in Internet telephony is threatening the traditional monopolies of Russia’s communications industry. So what do they do? Pull strings in the government to curb free market principles and ban VoIP telephony. Draw your own conclusions.Read the whole story here

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1112724378530835312005-04-03T10:48:00.000-03:002005-04-05T15:06:18.533-03:00

The Chief Telecommunications Officer in Barbados, Mr Chelston Bourne, is urging all concerned Barbadians to review Government's recommendations for control of the emerging VoIP industry. He outlined the many benefits for corporate and individual users of VoIP and urged interested persons to look at the policy document which is available at the website of the Telecommunications Unit.On page 31 of

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1111610973046567212005-03-23T16:45:00.000-04:002005-03-23T16:49:33.046-04:00

Skype, the Global Internet Telephony Company™, today launched Skype for Windows version 1.2 (v 1.2) with enhanced user benefits including a centralized Contacts list, which allows users access to their list of contacts from multiple devices from wherever they connect to Skype, and a new 'Getting Started Wizard,' which makes finding friends, importing contacts and making test calls even easier.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1111163790519942062005-03-18T12:28:00.000-04:002005-03-18T12:36:30.523-04:00

An interview with Niklas Zennström, the CEO of Skype, in The Industry Standard covers many far ranging questions on the future of Skype and VoIP.There is one very interesting paragraph that is of particular significance to us here in Bermuda. Zennstrom says:In well-developed regions of the world, such as Europe, North America and parts of Asia, regulators understand that there's no reason to

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1111165261759145092005-03-16T12:40:00.000-04:002005-03-18T13:01:01.826-04:00

I have been reading lately about another great example of technology convergance. The combination MP3 player and VoIP phone. Seems like a great idea on the face of it. However, reading this article on MobileMag.com about the new EZMP4200P MP3 player it appears that you have to have the player connected to the USB port of your PC in order to use the VoIP software. Rather takes away the allure of

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1108759780648853042005-03-04T12:40:00.000-04:002005-03-04T16:33:47.283-04:00

This is a great example of 2 new technologies.I have my BuzzLite handset plugged in to my laptop in Bermuda. I then called Audioblogger in California using VoIP. The posting to the BuzzBlog is then recorded and turned in to an MP3 file for immediate posting to the blog.So you can now post to BuzzBlog from any phone on the planet - mobile, landline or VoIP.This file also gives you an idea of the

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1109599063073259092005-02-28T09:55:00.000-04:002006-01-18T13:14:41.780-04:00

The International Herald Tribune has an article about VoIP which fairly simply outlines the advantages of using your PC to talk over the Internet.

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1109599877799659282005-02-27T16:05:00.000-04:002005-02-28T10:11:17.800-04:00

Just picked up my copy of Bermudian Business and see that Chris Gibbons has written a small piece about Buzz and our problems with the Department of Telecommunications.The online version of the magazine is not up to date at present but it does have a link to Chris's article in the last edition about using VoIP and explaining Internet Telephony.This article was written before Buzz came on the

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1109096857009470772005-02-23T10:25:00.000-04:002005-02-23T10:51:54.603-04:00

Here is an interesting comment that is a real life example of saving money using VoIP (from the UK)

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1109096042388485052005-02-22T14:12:00.000-04:002005-02-23T10:52:53.973-04:00

Even the BBC is getting in on VoIP. There is an article on the BBC News web site about VoIP and comparing Skype and Vonage.They talk about using a headset but this could equally apply to a Buzz handset which would make you look less like a call centre employee!

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1109013592393092592005-02-21T15:17:00.000-04:002005-02-21T15:48:17.083-04:00

Interesting bit of news that I stumbled across today. It might explain the temporary seal on our website. This is from Cayman Net News and the first paragraphs are:A new service, termed as Voice over IP (VoIP), branded as “NetSpeak,” is being introduced by Cable and Wireless Cayman Islands. The communication company plans to offer this new residential broadband telephony service, to its customers

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1109004680786298002005-02-21T12:45:00.000-04:002005-02-21T12:51:20.786-04:00

Just a brief note to let you know that our web site is STILL sealed by the Department of Telecommunications in Bermuda. This means that any links mentioned in earlier posts will not work to www.Buzz.bm. Links to other sites will work.I'll let you know both here and by email as soon as we are up and running again.To get in touch urgently, you can still email us at the address sent to you

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1108737940911013542005-02-18T10:35:00.000-04:002005-02-18T14:44:27.586-04:00

Interesting comments from Peter Cochrane on how he has saved money when travelling in the US by using VoIP and his laptop.Peter is the former CTO and Head of Research at BT so should know what he is talking about.Short extract:For the last few months I have been experimenting with Skype in particular for voice connections when I travel. During the last six weeks, all of my telephone calls -

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1108495978525713812005-02-15T15:25:00.000-04:002005-02-18T14:45:20.386-04:00

A couple of interesting and contrasting stories today.Neville Hobson in his blog has an interesting article about VoIP in Costa Rica entitled 'Use VoIP and go to jail'. This tells about how ICE, the phone company, is deliberating two things - either, to consider internet telephony as a fraudulent activity and to make it a criminal offence for anyone to use VoIP services; or, treat it as an

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1108495059115772252005-02-15T15:09:00.000-04:002005-02-18T14:46:12.773-04:00

We are still waiting to hear from the Department of Telecommunications regarding getting our website up and running. It has been closed since Dec 24th.An email on Feb 3rd said that they were "hopeful that it would be released shortly". Perhaps we will hear soon.In the meantime, we are unable to sell any more DialPad minutes and do not have the ability to offer you our handsets as the selling site

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10152786.post-1105712983846031672005-02-14T12:00:00.000-04:002005-02-18T14:48:15.923-04:00

I have set up this blog to keep Bermuda posted on the current developments with VoIP both here on the Island and outside in the big world.There is an element of self-serving here as I am supplying handsets for Internet Telephony which make conversations "more natural". These can be purchased online at http://www.buzz.bmBermuda's Telecommunication laws do not allow the sale of minutes to local

Richardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15270846554422615259noreply@blogger.com